An Adaptive Traffic-Flow Management System with a Cooperative Transitional Maneuver for Vehicular Platoons

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 23; no. 5; p. 2481
• Main Authors: Hota, Lopamudra, Nayak, Biraja Prasad, Sahoo, Bibhudatta, Chong, Peter H J, Kumar, Arun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23.02.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Automation; Automobile driving; CACC; Collision avoidance; Communication; Cooperative control; Cruise control; Driverless cars; Energy consumption; Fatalities; Human error; join maneuver; Management systems; Maneuvers; merge maneuver; Motor vehicle driving; platoon; Platooning; Traffic accidents; Traffic congestion; Traffic engineering; Traffic flow; Traffic management; Traffic safety; Travel; Travel time; Vehicles; India; CACC; collision avoidance; join maneuver; lane change; traffic congestion; platoon; merge maneuver
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s23052481

Globally, the increases in vehicle numbers, traffic congestion, and road accidents are serious issues. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) traveling in platoons provide innovative solutions for efficient traffic flow management, especially for congestion mitigation, thus reducing accidents. In recent years, platoon-based driving, also known as vehicle platoon, has emerged as an extensive research area. Vehicle platooning reduces travel time and increases road capacity by reducing the safety distance between vehicles. For connected and automated vehicles, cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) systems and platoon management systems play a significant role. Platoon vehicles can maintain a closer safety distance due to CACC systems, which are based on vehicle status data obtained through vehicular communications. This paper proposes an adaptive traffic flow and collision avoidance approach for vehicular platoons based on CACC. The proposed approach considers the creation and evolution of platoons to govern the traffic flow during congestion and avoid collisions in uncertain situations. Different obstructing scenarios are identified during travel, and solutions to these challenging situations are proposed. The merge and join maneuvers are performed to help the platoon's steady movement. The simulation results show a significant improvement in traffic flow due to the mitigation of congestion using platooning, minimizing travel time, and avoiding collisions.